Midnight Heat (Black Phoenix Book 2) (8 page)

“Not really, no.”

“So, it didn’t have anything to do with feeling emasculated driving a minivan?” He cursed beneath his breath. Her smile grew. “What is that thing? Is that Noah’s infamous convertible?” The one Dom had mentioned after his accident.

“First, it’s not a thing, it’s an Aston Martin. And yes, it’s Noah’s.” By his tone, Rebecca guessed she was supposed to be impressed by the brand. His eyebrows slashed downward. “Tell me you know what an Aston Martin is.”

“Horribly overpriced?”

“Worth every pound. She’s performance and elegance in one damn fine automobile. Look at her lines. She’s got style and grace combined with raw horse power.”

He was pretty passionate about the car wasn’t he? “Do you two need a moment alone?”

“Ha-ha.”

She laughed, which had the unfortunate side effect of a brief coughing spell. Dominic’s gaze turned cold as steel.

He stepped across the threshold. Close enough she could feel the soft caress of his breath on her cheek. He lifted a hand and gently brushed his knuckles along her neck. “What happened?”

“An incident at work. It’s…” her explanation trailed off as he cradled her face in his hand. He brushed his thumb over her cheek, her chin, then finally her bruise as he lowered his hand to her neck. His touch was feather light. Still, she couldn’t stop the tremble that worked down her legs or the tears that burned her eyes.

“Becca?”

It was the genuine concern in his voice that pushed her over the edge. Unable to say anything, she shook her head and stepped into his body. He wrapped his arm around her back. The other shifted to cradle her head. Rebecca pressed her face against his chest as tears wet her cheeks.

“I’ve got you,” he said softly.

Fear and sadness coalesced, settled like a lead weight in her chest making a deep breath difficult. Her breathing hitched as she struggled for control. If she lost it now, she may never get it back.

“It’s okay, I’m here for you.”

His words, murmured against her hair, were intoxicating. She drew his clean, masculine scent into her lungs while his heart beat steady beneath her ear. Her pulse slowed to match his. Her tears ebbed then stopped. Easing back, she looked up into the vibrant blue of his eyes and found something there she couldn’t name.

Something she was too afraid to hope for.

“Dominic,” she whispered, sliding her hands up his chest and into his hair. She pressed closer, lifted her chin and brought her mouth to the whisper of space right beneath his.

The door closed with a snap. Spinning her around, he pressed her against it, one hand on either side of her head. Against her lower belly, he was deliciously hard and thick. Heat pooled in her loins. Her stomach clenched, her breasts tightened. She pressed her lips to his once, twice. On the third kiss she tugged at his lower lip with her teeth.

He growled low in his throat, tilted her head back and devoured her. He kissed her like she belonged to him. As if the years they’d been apart never existed. He fisted his hand in her hair, slid the other down her body to cup her breast, rasping his thumb back and forth over her nipple, making it stand at attention. She couldn’t hold back her moan.

His kiss was as powerful as ever, more so, for she knew where it could lead. He played her body better than anyone before or after him, knowing just where to touch and for how long. The depth of penetration to send her over the edge again and again.

Right before he slipped out the door and disappeared.

Again.

For the second time that night, Rebecca pushed free of a man’s embrace.

Shifting away, she walked a few steps before turning back and finding his gaze on hers, silent and assessing. She dropped hers to the bulge filling out the front of his jeans and her throat tightened. She ached with the need to touch him, open her body to him.

Only self-preservation kept her still.

“I can’t do this again, Dominic. Do you have any idea what you did to me? How low I sank, crying all over Noah, begging him to tell me where you’d gone, how I could find you?”

His body tightened, making it very clear this was the first he’d heard any of it. “Noah?”

“He didn’t tell you about that? I went looking for you at Noah’s.” He’d lived in Sacramento then, not far from her condo. “The minute he opened the door I knew you were never coming back. It was written all over his face.”

“Rebecca—”

“Go away, Dom.”

He hadn’t taken his gaze off her, and his eyes were filled with frustration, hunger, and bewilderment. “I did come back.”

She shook her head. “Why now? For nearly three years you’ve been content
not
to be with me.”

“The hell I was.”

“You never—”

“I called you. You shut me out.”

“You called me? You
called
me?” Rebecca had to purposely draw in a breath and let it out again. She was trembling, her body vibrating. “Four months, Dominic. You called me four months
after
you walked out.”

“I never meant to hurt you,” he said, his voice gentling.

“Never meant to hurt me? You made love to me, led me to believe I was important to you and then you walked away without a word.” The backs of her eyes stung with disappointment and grief. “Damn you. I told you I loved you. Do you remember what you said to me?”

“I remember,” he whispered.

“
Fuck
.” He flinched. “I told you I loved you and you said
fuck
.”

“Becca, please.” He scrubbed a hand over his face as she continued, tossing his words back in his face.

“No, I believe it was,
‘Why do women always have to do that?’
” Just saying the words again brought back the agony she’d experienced at first hearing them. Her stomach soured. Her breath hitched. “You felt the need to point out how many times you’d heard the words, but I’d never said them before. Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to tell you?”

Dominic heaved a breath and his shoulders fell. “I know. I know that now. I’m sorry.”

“I’d waited nearly all my life to tell someone I love them and what did you do? You walked out. No goodbye. Fuck off. Nothing.” She shook her head, wanting so badly to understand. “Was it that horrible? The thought of loving…of me loving you that you ran all the way back to London?”

“Damn it,” he stalked away, pivoted and stalked back. “I was scared, okay? Afraid to admit you mattered to me. Afraid that you might not…” His voice was tight, desperate as he continued. “I was afraid and I ran. A mistake, yes, but one I’ve had to live with ever since. I can’t even look at another woman without comparing her to you. I haven’t had sex with anyone but my own fist in three years.”

She startled for a minute, but only a minute. How was she to believe him after the ease with which he’d walked away? “Bullshit.”

“It’s true. The only sexual gratification I’ve had is tossing off in the shower.”

Once upon a time the sun rose and set with him. No more. She didn’t think she’d survive another heartbreak at the hands of Dominic Price. “Is that supposed to make me all tingly inside? Make me forget how much you hurt me? I haven’t had that problem.”

“You haven’t…” Dom leaned against the door, dropping his head back and closing his eyes. “Of course you haven’t.”

“You never called after that first time. You never came to see me, even though I know you’ve been back to the States since then, back in California. It took you being wheeled into my hospital, strapped to a backboard, for me to see you again.”

“You shut me out.”

“One phone call.” Tears squeezed her throat until it was hard to breathe. “You didn’t even try.”

“Becca,” he whispered, pushing off the door and stepping in her direction.

“Don’t,” she warned.

“I wish I’d handled things differently. I’m sorry, love.”

“Spare me your meaningless platitudes. They may have worked on me once, but I’ve…” Her sigh sounded defeated even to her own ears. “We were just sex, Dom. I understand that now.”

He met her gaze, his blue eyes fierce. “We were more.”

“No. You didn’t even know me.”

“I know you, Becca,” Dominic said in a low voice that brushed across her senses like a caress. “I know every curve and dip of your flesh. I know how to touch you to make you come for me. To make you scream.”

“I don’t scream.”

“You do for me.”

An involuntary shudder worked through her. “Incredible sex, yes, but still just sex. I want more than that now; a lover
and
a friend.”

“We were more.”

“No we weren’t. What kind of music do I listen to?”

“Classical.”

“Anything else?”

“I don’t know.”

“What kind of car did I drive?”

“A Ford.”

“Three years ago?”

“I…” He scrubbed a hand over his face, clearly frustrated. “What does is matter what kind of car you drove?”

“That very first night you took me in the back seat of that car.” God, she’d been out of her mind for him, totally out of control. Only he had ever been able to make her lose control. “And you don’t remember.” She didn’t wait for him to respond. “What’s my best friend’s name? Have you ever met my best friend? Do you remember?”

His confusion was obvious. “I—”

“You never wanted to. It wasn’t important to you. What makes me laugh?”

“I do.”

“What makes me cry?”

For a moment, she didn’t think he was going to answer. Then he did, his voice full of regret. “I do.”

He did. He made her cry. White-hot pain filled her chest. Without her permission, a tear broke free. She brushed it away with an angry swipe. “Go away, Dominic. Leave me in peace.”

“Don’t give up on me, Rebecca. I’ve changed.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” The force of his reply took her by surprise.

“So you’re ready for a commitment? Ready to be with me and only me?”

“You think I would cheat on you? Jesus, that’s flattering.”

“You believe you’re ready?” she restated.

“Yes.”

“For how long? Forever?”

He didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”

Oh, God. Her heart actually skipped a beat. “How am I to believe that? You’re still a damn gypsy. You live out of a suitcase, move from friend’s spare bedroom to friend’s spare bedroom. Do you even have a home?”

“I have a flat in London.”

“How much are you there?”

“I’m a musician. I spend a whole lot of time on the road.”

His reluctance to answer her question made her push harder. “And when you’re not on the road…How much time do you spend in one place?”

“Bec.”

“At your flat in London, how much time, Dom?”

“Not much,” he admitted.

“Are you happy living like this?”

He was quiet, studying her a minute. “I used to be. Now I want more.”

Rebecca could only stare at him, her heart warring with her head. The first wanted her to cross to him and pick up where they’d left off. The latter warned her it would only lead to heartbreak. “You’ll be here at least another year, but a car, a place of your own, these are too much of a commitment for you. How can I believe you truly want to commit to me?”

“I never stopped thinking about you, not even for one day.”

She shook her head.

He closed the distance between them, cupped her face in one hand and made her look at him. “Yes. Regret will do that to a person.”

She didn’t step aside and break the connection like she knew she should. She needed this last touch before pushing him away for good. It had taken her all the time they’d been apart not to dream about him every night. Not to wonder where he was or what he was doing. Whether or not he was happy without her.

“The night of my accident, when I opened my eyes and you were there? Seeing you again, Rebecca...” Dominic swallowed hard. “It was like someone let the air back into the room.”

God, he was beautiful. It wasn’t fair just how beautiful. But she couldn’t do it again, couldn’t survive another loss like the last time he walked. “You had your chance. You didn’t want me.”

“Don’t do this. I still believe in us.”

She laughed without humor, forcing back the tears trying to break free. “Us? There is no us. You threw us away like yesterday’s trash.”

“Don’t give up on me,” he pleaded, his voice hoarse.

Emotion clogging her throat, she forced herself to say the words. “You’re too late. I don’t love you anymore, Dominic.”

Dominic jerked like she’d hurt him. He dropped his hand and retreated a full step. The pain in his eyes was enough to cause the tears she’d been holding back to break free. Her breath stuttered out. She had to fight the urge to curl her fingers in his shirt as he stepped back again, his expression hollow.

His gaze never left her face as he backed to the door, where he finally turned away from her. God it hurt. It hurt so damn bad she couldn’t breathe.

He curled his hand around the knob and pulled the door open. Centered in the doorway, he froze as she said softly, “Please don’t stop by again.”

He tipped his head once in understanding, then he was gone.

Rebecca’s stomach heaved. Her knees gave out and she sank to the floor, no longer able to hold back the sobs that wracked her body.

* * *

This time he was smarter. Dominic didn’t race down the road trying to outrun the memories. He pulled over and let them come.

“Don’t,” he warned.

“Don’t what?”

He crawled out of bed, pulled his jeans on and looked down at her. “Ruin everything by bringing love into this.”

Rebecca sat up, the sheet falling away from her freckled breasts, reddened from the attention he’d just bestowed upon them. Christ, she had an incredible body. He could spend hours lost in her. Just had actually. The desire to return to her was overwhelming. Until she uttered those words a second time.

“I love you, get over it.”

“Fuck!”

There was no mistaking the flash of pain in her eyes. “Gee, just what every woman wants to hear after she confesses her feelings to a man.”